Get Out Alive
by Iron-gurl47
Summary: Pepperony fic.


**Author note: Hey guys, this is my first story, so I hope you enjoy it. The song is 'Get out alive' by three days grace. **

**I do not own the song or the characters. **

Get out Alive.

Pepper walked briskly towards Tony's workshop. It had been almost a week since Tony declared he was Iron man and at least a month since he came back from Afghanistan. She clicked down the stairs and punched in her security code. "Tony, you have a meeting, you need to get-" Tony stood up from the couch and Pepper stopped mid sentence. He was already dressed in his suit and tie-his hair slightly ruffled but definitely presentable. "Oh," she said, slightly faltering. "You remembered, well OK. We need to get going." She said, gathering herself up again. Tony sighed and walked past her silently, his eyes dark and thoughtful. Pepper raised an eyebrow but followed him back up the stairs.

"Jarvis," pepper said, "please tell Happy to bring the car around." "Yes ma'am." The AI answered. Tony slumped onto the couch and stared out the window, his eyes seeming to darken, despite the bright sunlight. Pepper chewed her bottom lip nervously. Ever since that dreadful press conference, he'd be awfully quiet, and it worried Pepper. She couldn't talk to him herself; things had been tense between them these past weeks. She realized she'd been staring at him for a while now, and he was now looking back. His eyes sad.

Pepper jerked her head away and looked out the window to see Happy had pulled the car around. A sudden idea sprang into Pepper's mind. She quickly opened the door and did her best to reach the car first. She slid into the seat and tapped Happy's shoulder. "Play Tony's favorite station." She said. Usually his hard rock music was irritating to her and made her anxious. But she was willing to put that aside since Tony seemed to enjoy it.

The music started blaring as Tony slid into the seat next to her. Pepper looked down at her Ipad like everything was normal. But she could see out of the corner of her eye Tony cast her a look. The ride was made in awkward silence, and Pepper started to feel anxious because of the music. For some reason it made her jumpy. Once they'd reached the building, Happy began to unbuckle.

"Give us a minute, Happy?" Pepper said. Happy nodded and hopped out, starting to calm down the reporters. The music still played. Tony turned to look at her, "Ok, am I in trouble?" he asked. Pepper sighed, staring at him silently. She opened her mouth to speak but closed it again. Tony simply looked at her, no emotion showing on his face. There was so much Pepper wanted to say. How she'd missed him like heck while he was away and how she hadn't slept half those nights. She wanted to ask why he would only talk to her with one or two syllable words. Why he never cracked jokes at her-even if they were inappropriate or just stupid-she missed them. She wanted to know where her Tony Stark had gone.

A new song started on the radio and at the first line, something in Tony's eyes changed and he dropped his gaze. Pepper listened to the lyrics.

_No time for goodbye he said_  
_as he faded away_

_Don't put your life in someone's hands. _

_They're bound to steal it away. _

_Don't hide your mistakes _

'_cause they'll find you _

_Burn you. _

Then Tony did something Pepper had never seen him do. He bent his head and his shoulders started to shake.

If you wanna get out alive

_Oohhh_

_Run for your life_

Pepper sat stunned for a moment. Tony put his hand over his mouth but soon a sob escaped him. Without thinking, Pepper scooted closer and wrapped him in a hug. He turned so his head was on her shoulder, sobs racking his body. "Yinsen," he moaned, "oh Yinsen I'm so sorry." Pepper had no idea what he was talking about but she held him close and ran her fingers through his hair. Pepper rubbed his back continuously, trying to calm him. He continued to cry into her shoulder. "I should have…I could've.." he trailed off. "He..he saved my life and then I let him die." Tony went on without lifting his head. "Why did he have to run? If he'd stuck to the plan I could have saved him..brought him back here…given him a home." Pepper suddenly understood, Tony had said something about a second prisoner that had been in the cave with him. He must have died when they tried to escape. Pepper pressed her cheek to the side of his head, stroking his hair. "It wasn't your fault." She murmured, trying to remember his report on what happened. His hands squeezed her thighs and he took a deep breath. He pulled back just enough to kiss the side of her neck tenderly. "Thank you." He whispered, finally pulling back and wiping his eyes. She squeezed his hand and followed him out of the limo. He kept his head down as he made his way inside. "You OK?" Happy asked. Pepper watched as Tony turned to a reporter, flashed his Tony Stark smirk and made a snarky remark. "yes," Pepper said, a smile tugging at her lips. "I think we'll be just fine."

End.


End file.
